By Ravendra Madholall

The 2024 Global T20 tournament is set to bowl off on Thursday at the CAA facility in Brampton, Ontario. Vancouver Knight Riders will clash with Toronto Nationals from 4pm and a keen contest is highly anticipated.

Six franchised teams will be competing with Montreal Tigers, the defending champions, taking on Bangla Tigers Mississauga Friday at 11:am before Brampton Wolves trade punches with Surrey Jaguars, last year’s finalist, at 4 pm.

The extravaganza was inaugurated in 2019 saw the Vancouver Knight Riders crowned champions but things were kept off-field for the next three consecutive years understandably due to the Global Pandemic.

On August 6 at the same venue, Montreal Tigers clinched an exhilarating, 5-wicket win to lift the trophy with no balls to spare.

West Indian T20 middle-order batsman and Guyanese Sherfane Rutherford blasted an unbeaten 38 to lead the way while Jamaican and renowned hard-hitting batter Andre Russell helped seal the deal with an enterprising 20 not out.

Both players are slated to return for this year’s edition which is also building up with great excitement.

Apart from the Rutherford and Russell, a list of International superstars in this format will also be on show.

Former West Indies limited-over Captain Carlos Brathwaite will again be suiting up for Brampton Wolves. He will have Australian great David Warner as his skipper.

In 2016, Brathwaite created history when he spurred West Indies to the World Cup T20 champions after hitting four mighty sixes in the final over against England.

Trinidadian Sunil Narine and Barbadian Kyle Mayers, both athletes with West Indies’ colours at the highest level, will be in action representing Bangla Tigers, Mississauga.

Pakistan’s high-profile batsman Babar Azam and countryman Shaheed Shah Afridi, a left-arm quickie, are also in North America for what is promising to be another spectacle.

The tournament will be a round-robin format with the top four advancing to the Qualifiers (1&2) and Eliminator before the curtains coming down August 11 with a grand finale.

Meanwhile, fans can visit the Global T20 website to purchase games’ tickets. Notably, all matches will be played at the abovementioned ground.

  Brampton